In February, Dayton indicated he could veto bills perceived as weakening the authority of the state Public Utilities Commission — a group appointed by the governor that regulates the state's electricity, gas and telephone companies. . . .

A common complaint handled by the PUC concerns additional fees some co-op customers are charged after installing solar panels or wind generators.

These customers say the grid connection fees — ranging from $7 to $83 — were a disincentive to install sources of renewable energy. The co-ops say the fees are needed to cover their fixed costs.

The legislation would have sent these disputes to a third-party mediator, not the PUC. But "it does not provide any guidance on how this mediation would work," Dayton said in his letter.

"All Minnesota customers — from family farmers to large businesses — should be able to invest in technology to produce clean and efficient energy with the assurance that the PUC is available to provide consumer protection," the governor said.

Check out the entire article at the Strib.

Cartoon: Ken Avidor for Bluestem Prairie. Some rural co-op customers (they're called "members," but if a person in the co-op's service area wants to get on the electrical grid, there's no alternative suppler) told Bluestem that they felt their rural electrical co-ops were committed to long-term contracts for coal-produced energy, not solar energy produced by members.

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Unfortunately, the companion bills have passed in both chambers and so clean energy groups, including our friends at Clean Up The River Environment (CURE) are asking citizens to contact Governor Dayton and ask for a veto. Here's the message we received from them:

Power companies are forcing Minnesota's solar customers to pay discriminatory fees – some over $80/month. This bill eliminates a review of these astronomical penalties, just so power companies don't have to face scrutiny for punishing solar customers.

Solar customers shouldn't be punished for doing the right thing. Tell Governor Dayton to protect solar in Minnesota and veto this legislation.

Mar 11, 2017

Both the Swift County Monitor and the West Central Tribune are reporting that the sponsors of legislation to lease or purchase the shuttered private prison owned by CoreCivic, the human traffickers formerly known as Correctional Corporation of America, are hopeful the language will go forward, neither HF1510 nor SF1322, its state senate companion bill, received committee hearings by Friday's deadline.

So how does that work? Spoiler alert: there's a way for the measure to go forward, although they missed the first deadline. This path may also help minimize messy citizen testimony and demonstrations in the state capitol.

A bill that could put the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton in a better position to house prisoners at some point in the future has been introduced in the Minnesota House by District 17A Rep. Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg. In the Senate, District 17 Sen. Andrew Lang, R-Olivia, is carrying the bill.

However, the bill has yet to have a hearing and with the deadlines rapidly approaching in the Minnesota Legislature for bills to be heard, time is running out for it to move forward this year. [emphasis BSP]

The bill deadlines are: By March 10 committees must act favorably on bills in the house of origin; By March 17 committees must act favorably on bills, or companion bills, that met the first deadline in the other house; and, By March 31 committees must act favorably on major appropriation and finance bills.

Miller’s bill was introduced in the House Feb. 20 and referred to the Public Safety and Security Policy and Finance Committee. It has yet to be heard in the committee. Though no hearing was scheduled for this week, Miller says that one “is in the works.”

HF2017 - (Clark): Voice of East African Women grant for programs to reduce recruitment of East African youth by violent organizations established, grant to local governments with populations at risk for recruitment by violent organizations established, and money appropriated.

. . . State Sen. Andrew Lang, R-Olivia, and Rep. Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg, expect the legislation they authored to be receiving committee hearings in the next week or two. Miller told the Tribune he is confident the legislation will win approval in the House. Lang said he is optimistic for the legislation in the Senate as well. . . .

We'll see if the bills are added next week, before the second deadline, even though they weren't heard in committee in either body by the first deadline.

DOC Spokester: Challenge Incarceration Programs more effective option

Meanwhile, Cherveny reports that "neither legislator has heard how Gov. Mark Dayton feels about the legislation this session." However, the veteran reporter did ask the Governor's agency about the plan:

The Department of Corrections is not interested in utilizing the space in the Appleton facility, according to [Department of Corrections communications director Sarah] Fitzgerald. The department wants to address the needs by investing in the Challenge Incarceration Programs at the correctional facilities in Moose Lake and Togo. The chemical dependency program reduces recidivism and encourages offenders to change their criminal behaviors, according to Fitzgerald.

"CIP has a recidivism rate of only 32 percent and the additional beds would have an impact of over a half million dollars in cost avoided per year,'' she told the Tribune in an email.

In the West Central Tribune article Miller brings up prison expansion plan that the Dayton administration has abandoned, without getting into specifics about how much re-opening and running the Appleton prison might cost.

Fortunately, there's a document from Miller's last prison rodeo (on behalf of his political contributors): the fiscal note created by House nonpartisan staff for 2016's HF3223. Here's that document:

Bluestem Prairie reached out to Debra Hilstrom, DFL-Brooklyn Center, the minority lead on the Minnesota House Public Safety and Security Policy and Finance Committee, in order to discover how policy bills that missed deadlines might still go forward. Hilstrom speculated that while the House bill itself wouldn't reach the floor without suspension of the rules, committee chair Tony Cornish, R-Vernon Center, could insert funding for leasing/purchasing, then operating the facility, in in his budget bill, which has yet to be unveiled.

According to Hilstrom, HF986 is the "governor's bill" for the courts, public safety and corrections. If Bluestem isn't mistaken (we may be), Cornish can hear testimony on the policy bills, but not move them forward; instead, the measure would be funded in the Public Safety omnibus budget bill.

One supposes that the language might also be slipped into another bill via the amendment process in committee or on the House floor--though that isn't exactly the "hearing" for the bills that Miller and Lang say they've been promised.

Should funding for leasing/purchasing and operating the prison reach the Governor's desk via an omnibus budget bill, Mark Dayton has the option of a line item veto. In Minnesota, a governor can use the line item for a budget line (example here), but not a policy line, Hilstrom explained to Bluestem.

Hilstrom is the author of HF1692, which would require all state and local prisoners to be housed in public facilities, while prohibiting the state and counties from contracting with private prisons. Like its senate companion bill, SF1675 (Ron Latz), the bill did not receive a committee hearing by the March 10 deadline. There's a lot of that going around.

We'll keep watching this issue.

Note: Process isn't Bluestem's forte, so if we've stumbled in this explanation, please let us know.

Photo: The prison fence, with Appleton's water tower behind it.

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Eager to avoid the kind of contentious finish that has marred recent legislative sessions, and trying to build political support for his priorities, Gov. Mark Dayton in recent weeks has stepped up outreach to state lawmakers in a series of bipartisan private meetings.

The goal is to advance his own understanding of what matters to legislators and “find areas of common ground,” Dayton said in a recent interview. Topics at the four small-group meetings so far were transportation, energy, higher education and public schools. He also meets regularly with legislative leaders from both parties. . . .

But not so much for Fabian:

Still, it’s not easy to please all 201 legislators.

Rep. Dan Fabian, R-Roseau, said he was frustrated by a recent meeting with officials with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency — led by a Dayton appointee — to discuss his bill to overhaul environmental permitting and eliminate the Environmental Quality Board. Fabian, chairman of the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee, said he was told the governor opposed his bill and would not negotiate its contents. The meeting, scheduled for an hour, ended after only a few minutes, he said.

“I understand we have some differences,” Fabian said. “When do we not have differences around this place? I get that. But in order to be able to address our differences and move on and come to some sort of agreement, we need to talk about stuff. Would you say I’m frustrated? Yes, very much.”

Jaime Tincher, Dayton’s chief of staff, said that’s not unusual: “Members of the Governor’s Cabinet and senior staff regularly negotiate with members of the Legislature, but only Mark Dayton was elected by the people of Minnesota to be their governor and make decisions on their behalf,” she said in a statement responding to Fabian’s criticism.

Well, there's that. But testimony by Minnesota Commissioner of Agriculture, Dave Frederickson, who chairs the Environmental Quality Board, shared a beef of his own in his committee testimony: that Fabian never approached him about the purpose and need for his bill to eliminate the EQB, which Frederickson believes is highly regarded by citizens around the state.

Just watch the end of his testimony here:

Let's review: Fabian doesn't have to meet with the Dayton commissioner who chairs the EQB to talk about why the Roseau Republican feels the board has to go, but if MPCA staffers don't immediately concede ground, he cuts off a planned hour meeting within minutes.

Under the guise of streamlining, the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce is trying to turn Minnesota’s environmental review laws upside down.

The Chamber bill, HF 1291, puts polluters in charge and, in the process, cuts Minnesotans who may be affected by new pollution out of the process. Let us count the ways:

1. It is hard to say which provision in the Chamber bill is the worst, but the one letting the polluter prepare its own environmental impact statement would be in anyone’s top three list. So instead of the agency gathering information about the proposed project and asking for public comment, the agency is relegated to determining the completeness of the proposers “EIS” and possibly modifying it without having gathered the underlyingl data that would inform good decision making. More subtly, if the proposer drafts the EIS, what role does the public now have? Moreover, there would no longer be public access to the documents used to draft the EIS; government documents are subject to the Data Practices Act but private company documents are not.

2. Affected citizens would no longer be able to request a contested case hearing to review a mining permit or any other decision related to a mining permit.

3. Agencies would be required to start a permit at the same time they start environmental review even though the information gathered in the environmental review is supposed be the foundation for the permit. Public input is undercut if the permit is underway before the public has a chance to weigh in.

4. A draft permit must be given to the applicant for comment before it is issued. The public that will be affected by the project doesn’t have the same right.

5. A proposer who has the ability to pay extra can get an expedited permit leaving those without extra money –new or smaller businesses–at the back of the line.

7. The Environmental Quality Board is eliminated, eliminating another opportunity for citizens to participate, eliminating sunshine.

Unfortunately, there is more but one does get the picture!

Let's hope the Governor vetoes this one if and when it reaches his desk.

Photo: Dan Fabian, who believes the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce made him an offer the Dayton Administration better not refuse.

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Nonetheless, we lose sympathy when we read passages like this one in Albert Lea Republican state representative Peggy Bennett's weekly news email under the friendly salutation "Dear Neighbors":

Local Bills

I’m once again authoring a bill to fund improvements to the Stables’ neighborhood sewer system. I carried this bill last year, and it was included in the bonding bill, but Governor Dayton vetoed it. I’m hopeful to once again have this included in any bonding agreement.

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Now he's trolling the governor--and his own constituents--in a letter to the editor of the Morris Sun Tribune, No need for water czar. Read the whole LTE in the Sun Tribune. One paragraph stands out for us:

Here's a word picture to explain a better approach. Traffic congestion in the metro areas took decades to streamline into the interstate systems we now enjoy and take for granted. The traffic congestion was not solved in two years by a "traffic czar" or traffic law proclaiming "let there be no congestion." It took decades of patience, careful planning and concerted efforts by the citizens to solve the problem. In the same way, appointing a "water czar," or hastily passing ill-crafted buffer laws proclaiming "let the water pollution be solved by 2018" is poorly conceived and will not accomplish constructive and lasting results.

What in the wild, wild world of sports is Backer talking about? Neither anecdotal experience nor traffic studies suggest that "[t]raffic congestion in the metro areas took decades to streamline into the interstate systems" in which we've managed "solve the problem" of congestion. Nor was the planning of the metro's interstate system a kumbaya moment in our state's history.

First, about that "solved" problem of congestion. Just last month, the American Transportation Research Institute (not a bunch of dirty hippies flogging Agenda 21, but the research wing of the American Trucking Associations) sent out a press release noting Twin Cities Home to Four of the Nation's Worst Truck Bottlenecks:

The American Transportation Research Institute today released its annual list highlighting the most congested bottlenecks for trucks in America, including four in Minnesota.

The 2017 Top Truck Bottleneck List assesses the level of truck-oriented congestion at 250 locations on the national highway system. The analysis, based on truck GPS data from 600,000+ heavy duty trucks uses several customized software applications and analysis methods, along with terabytes of data from trucking operations to produce a congestion impact ranking for each location. The data is associated with the FHWA-sponsored Freight Performance Measures (FPM) initiative. The locations detailed in this latest ATRI list represent the top 100 congested locations.

"Minnesota is home to 17 Fortune 500 companies, making it a major freight generator and player in the nation's economy," said Minnesota Trucking Association President John Hausladen. "ATRI's analysis allows us to target state and federal resources to keep trucks, and the economy, moving."

The four bottlenecks in Minnesota, all located in the Twin Cities, are:

No. 45 – I-35W at I-94

No. 55 – I-35W at I-494

No. 71 – I-35W at I-694

No. 88 – I-35E at I-94

"Trucks move 70% of the nation's goods, so knowing where our highway system is most congested can lead to better decisions about what highways and bridges need improvement," said American Trucking Associations President Chris Spear, "and it is our hope that ATRI's research will guide states toward improving these pain points in the supply chain so our industry can continue to safely and efficiently moving the nation's goods."

For access to the full report, including detailed information on each of the 100 top congested locations, click here.

It’s not just your brakelight-riddled imagination: Freeway congestion in and around Minneapolis and St. Paul was the worst on record last year, according to a new report from Minnesota Department of Transportation.

The agency’s annual report on freeway congestion said congestion was up from 21.1 percent in 2014 to 23.4 percent last year. That’s the highest number since the agency started collecting data in 1993.

Severe congestion, lasting longer than 2 hours, was at 7.6 percent, the highest it’s been in at least a decade, MnDOT said.

Congestion is measured as a percentage of the metro’s 758 freeway miles on which traffic is moving at less than 45 miles per hour. That’s the speed at which disruptions like crashes, stalls or overcapacity ramps can trigger widespread breakdowns in the flow of traffic, the agency said.

Unsurprisingly, I-35W, I-394 and the I-494/694 loop are the most snarled stretches, with the worst of it coming near the I-35W/I-94 interchange.

The agency said road design improvements, MnPASS express-lane expansion and active traffic management and information are all part of its effort to ease congestion — but warned that projected increases in travel, an improving economy and higher road construction costs are all expected to worsen the problem.

Given these results, Bluestem has to wonder why Backer (or the hapless GOP House staffer writer assigned to him) selected the process of freeway construction as the model for water quality efforts in rural Minnesota. If he think this is "solved" congestion in the metro, we'd hate to let our dog and chickens drink "clean" water determined by a similar process out here.

The section of I-94 between Minneapolis and Saint Paul was completed in 1968. In the Twin Cities, the construction of the highway was politically charged. The highway was built primarily through many working-class and African-American neighborhoods.[5][4] In Saint Paul, the routing of I-94 is set through and displaces the historic Rondo neighborhood, which prior to the highway construction was the largest African-American community in Saint Paul. By uprooting almost the entire neighborhood, the highway disrupted the vitality of the Saint Paul African American community.[3][2][4] This history influenced the July 2016 blockade of nearby I-35W* [I-94] by Black Lives Matter protesters, to whom the freeways are symbols of oppressive urban policy.[6]

One wonders whether Backer and staff ghostwriter would think Rondo lives mattered, if either indeed knew that the neighborhood had once existed. It wouldn't be the first time Backer made factual error about an urban population, given the invidious comparisons he's made between flood victims in Browns Valley and New Orleans or odd statements about urban transportation.

Irony sidenote: not surprisingly, Backer is a co-author ofHF0390, which increases penalties obstructing traffic to a highway or airport, a bill spawned by those freeway blockades.

Gov. Mark Dayton is making another push to clean up Minnesota’s waters — and says he’s learned lessons from his contentious battle two years ago to implement buffer strips along the state’s waterways.

In a speech Friday morning to the Minnesota Environmental Congress, the DFL governor said he’ll propose improving Minnesota’s water quality 25 percent by the year 2025.

But he’s not proposing specific tools to accomplish that reduction just yet. Instead, he says he’ll solicit citizen input around the state this summer and make proposals based on that input in 2018.

“One of the lessons I learned with the buffer legislation is that it was criticized as a top-down, one-size-fits-all mandate,” Dayton said Friday. “I have my own ideas. I can advance those next year. But I want to let this process unfold and get citizens themselves engaged and citizens themselves feeling their own investment in the outcome.” . . .

That lesson is quite a bit different from the one Backer draws from Dayton, and it's ironic that the Pioneer Press article appeared on the same day as Backer's letter.

But then, Backer's learned that he can get re-elected inventing whatever he wants about the Evil Metro, which hasn't just solved its traffic congestion problem, but is always out to get him as well.

*I-35W was blocked by a separate group, primarily white allies, the Pioneer Press reported, while I-94 had been blocked the Saturday night before the weekday action.

Photo: Could this be Backer dreaming about a buffer law repeal during the farmers' panel after lunch at the Water Summit in Morris, his twin brother, or just another guy who looks ? Whatever the cast, it's clear Backer's asleep at the wheel when it comes to talking about Evil Metro area congestion or about the current details of Governor Dayton's water quality plan. Read more about the questions about this photo in Republican guy who voted for Minnesota's buffer bill continues to grandstand against it

. (Photo submitted by a former Backer constituent).

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It's not a rural versus metro thing, the statements by both women made clear. What they didn't address is who is putting off bonding. To learn about that, Bluestem recommends Don Davis's piece for Forum Communications from late December, Don’t bet on big 2017 Minnesota bonding bill:

. . . While Republicans hold the majority in the House and Senate, they do not have enough votes to reach the required super majority to borrow money. That means Democrats who want a bigger bill, and different projects than the GOP wants, will have a say.

“We are open to a bonding bill, but it would be end of session,” said Sen. Paul Gazelka, R-Nisswa, who will be Senate majority leader. . . .

[Dean]Urdahl predicted a bonding bill for “some pressing projects,” but a big one will not come until 2018, “the way it normally is done.”

The representative handing the bonding gavel to Urdahl, Republican Paul Torkelson of Hanska, said he “would be very surprised” if there is a big 2017 bonding bill, adding that “it is really too bad.”

So what's the rest of Minnesota waiting for while one private sector--agriculture--goes to the head of the line? Hausman explains that it may set a precedent of individual projects going forward but other equally worthy projects being left behind. She cited an article from the Worthington Globe noting that legislators from that area are suggesting this:

Everyone in St. Paul agrees the Lewis & Clark Regional Water System needs to come to Worthington, but that isn’t the problem.

Robinson said while both houses and the Governor’s office are all in agreement that funding for the Lewis & Clark connection to Worthington is in their bill, the bonding bill is one of the last things that will be done in the legislative session in late May.

“It’s where all the bargaining chips are held; it’s the last piece of negotiation,” Robinson said.

Robinson, Hamilton and Weber don’t want to wait that long to get construction started. That’s why they’re working on standalone legislation to free up approximately $8 million in surplus funds from the money used on phase two construction from Magnolia to Adrian to be used on phase three. The extra money, which resulted from favorable bids, is locked up with a restriction that it can only be used for phase two construction.

Combined with $9 million in federal funds, Robinson said the money would get a majority of the construction done, but not all of it. The city and Lewis & Clark officials want to get the money as soon as possible in order to go out to bid early and get favorable bids.

“If it stays in the bonding bill and it passes, it would be late May, and we would lose much if not all of the 2017 construction season,” Robinson said. “The plans are done, and the easements are in place. So, if we had that $8 million, we could go out to bid within several weeks.”

As Hausman notes, other projects across the state face the problem of losing a construction season. Here's her observation:

Liebling also questioned why HF14 jumps ahead of other projects. She understood that the Minnesota Department of Agriculture couldn't make the loans for farmers but didn't know why this was more urgent than a leaking dam in Lanesboro and other infrastructure issues around the state that everyone feels are urgent in their communities.

Here's her question:

Miller responded that there was a timeliness in HF14 in that farmers need to get crops in during the spring. However, we're puzzled how this argument cancels the point that Hausman made about the construction industry, which like farming is bound by Minnesota's pronounced seasons.

We're seeing this frame--farmers' needs over those of others and "Greater Minnesota" defined as farmers vs the metro and regulators (Cargill CEO Greg Page at the Water Summit)--act as a shorthand in policy questions.

It obscures the needs of small cities for drinking water and wastewater system replacements, the Lewis and Clark water pipeline, the dam at Lanesboro, and dozens of other projects across Great Minnesota.

It's as if Minnesota outside of the metro is nothing but a monoculture of farms and nothing else. This is a lazy and divisive frame. By all means pass this bill--but let it be the exception and not the rule.

The legislature should knock it off treating the bonding bill as the item "where all the bargaining chips are held; it’s the last piece of negotiation," and instead get a bonding bill that funds projects across the state. Many of these were vetted last year--and a new construction season begins mere weeks from now.

We'd like to see construction workers, farmers, and more all prosper. Get working, representatives and senators.

Photo: The Lanesboro Dam.

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The first few weeks of a legislative session often are sleepy affairs: lots of ceremony, feel-good receptions and meet-and-greets, introductions and informational hearings.

Not this year.

A number of factors combined to create a flurry of early activity . . .

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Vernon Center, who has been at the Capitol since 2003.

Rosen, who leaves on a two-week trip to Myanmar this week, said the Senate’s rush to pass its health care bill last week was not related to her travel plans. Lawmakers were eager to get it done so that Senate and House negotiators could work out differences for final passage by the end of the month, which is the deadline for Minnesotans to sign up for health insurance.

Still, Rosen’s absence is notable because it shows how thin the GOP’s one-seat majority really is. With just one member gone, the Senate conceivably could come to a halt, with Republicans lacking the numbers to move any legislation opposed by the DFL.

Nonetheless, her absence may slow the machinery of power in St. Paul, thus dashing the hopes of the ink-stained wretches in the newsroom of the Crookston Times, who opined on Monday in Compromise in St. Paul:

Compromise in St. Paul

The last time Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton had to work with a Republican-controlled Minnesota Legislature, we had to suffer through a brief government shutdown, as Dayton and the Republicans refused to work together to get anything meaningful accomplished. Dayton said the other day he fears it could happen again, now that Republicans again control both the Minnesota Senate and House. But it doesn't have to, especially not with meaningful legislation like health insurance relief, a bonding bill, and tax bill that, according to last year's numbers, would give Crookston an additional $116,000 or so in Local Government Aid. If Dayton and the Republicans approach each other with reasonable expectations and a willingness to give instead of just take, things could get done. But forgive us if we're less than hopeful that the governor and legislative leaders will work together for the benefit of Minnesotans who elected them.

Were we the least bit cynical, we'd suggest that in the absence of the bread of LGA, the good citizens of Crookston might eat cake, but far be it from Bluestem to even imply such a thing.

Photo: A still from the classic Tale of Two Cities.

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Jan 13, 2017

Back at the end of December, we noted in a post that the Swift County Monitor reported in Promotion of Appleton prison to continue in 2017 that a local official thought Minnesota House Public Safety Committee chair Tony Cornish, R-Vernon Center, favored leasing the shuttered private prison in Appleton:

Hendrickx told fellow commissioners that it seems that the appetite to purchase isn’t as strong as it was last year; there is more of an appetite to lease, he said.

Republican Tony Cornish, chair of the state House’s Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy and Finance Committee, seems to have more of an appetite for a lease, Hendrickx said. The lease doesn’t require the big upfront dollar amount a purchase would, he said.

Given the many criticisms, Cornish said he believes the only way to pass a bill in Minnesota would be to offer to buy the site — instead of just leasing it — and staff it with state correctional workers. Still, Cornish expects a difficult road ahead.

“They’ll come up with other horrendous statistics and reasons not to do it,” Cornish said. “But that’s just part of the game I guess.”

For the Appleton area, whether it is a lease or a purchase, it is the jobs that are important, Hendrickx said. But it is also important that the agreement that is reached whether a purchase or a lease shows a commitment to use the facility for the long term to ensure job stability, Hendrickx said. [emphasis added]

Sentencing reform? Repurposing the facility in the event of prison population decline? Doesn't seem to be on the radar in Swift County.

This emphasis as prisoner-keeping as economic development continues in a new Monitor article about Swift County's hiring Goff Public again to lobby the state legislature about re-opening the Appleton prison. The article isn't online, but we post photos below for our readers' convenience.

As the last sentence in the lede notes, "Retaining the company is related to 2017 economic development priorities, it [a memo of understanding] said." Doubtless, we'll hear less of this at the state capitol and more about how much the citizens of Swift County care about overcrowding as well as the aspirations and souls of the incarcerated.

Here are photos of the latest article in the Swift County Monitor about the lobbying contract with Goff Public:

In an editorial in the same issue, the paper itself stresses the economic benefits of re-opening the prison:

Support the Prairie Correctional Facility

Of all 87 counties in Minnesota no county saw a greater turnaround in its numbers voting Democratic to voting Republican than Swift County. Only four times in 100 years has Swift County voted Republican – 2016 was the first time since 1952.

If Democrats want to win back Swift County, and if Republicans want to hold on to it, fight for the reopening of the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton. It once provided up to 350 jobs for people living in 24 rural Minnesota counties. It provided a payroll of $13 to $15 million for the region.

Proceed with sentencing reform, reduce the numbers who need to be jailed for drug offenses, but when state prison beds are still full and you are still using county jails to house state inmates, act to invest in rural Minnesota by using the Appleton prison.

The editor also hopes for "people creation," child care and education funding. Here's hoping that the legislature puts as much effort into those items as to opening a prison. Perhaps a poor farm might do.

Photo: Is Appleton the zombie prison that won't die, just as zombie ziprail can't be buried in the graveyard of failed economic development schemes?

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He released his proposal on Wednesday morning. As in 2016, he proposed $70.3 million for a second phase of expansion and renovation at the security hospital. He again proposed $14.5 million for the Minnesota Sex Offender Program to support community preparation services on the DHS campus and $12.4 million for two secure facilities in communities for those who are provisionally discharged.

Dayton reiterated the need for the project funding. . . .

The Department of Human Services campus in St. Peter would see some of the largest allocations of money proposed in the $1.5 billion bonding bill, about $100 million more than he recommended last year. Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Myron Frans said the state has $3 billion in available capacity for 2017-18.

“These projects are vital to the future of Minnesota,” Dayton said. “We have the capacity to do this and it would be just a shame if we fail to seize that opportunity.” . . .

Major south-central Minnesota projects from last year are included in Dayton's proposal, which he said was a combination of projects he championed in 2016 and projects lawmakers brought up during last year's session.

The governor proposes giving $4.4 million to Minnesota State University and $6.4 million to South Central College for renovation projects. That's less money than he previously recommended in 2016 — MSU requested $6.5 million while SCC asked for $8.6 million.

Dayton also reiterated his support for the Minnesota Security Hospital's $70.3 million request to complete the final stage of renovations and improvements to its campus at the St. Peter Regional Treatment Center.

"This is beginning to catch up to what the needs are there," he said.

The governor once again included $14.5 million for a transition program building at the Minnesota Sex Offender Program in St. Peter, and $12.4 million for similar MSOP transition efforts throughout the state. . . .

The bill also includes $98,000 in public infrastructure funding for Madelia to help offset reconstruction costs after a fire destroyed several downtown businesses last February.

Other projects include $3.4 million for Highway 4 reconstruction in St. James, $1.2 million for repairs to the Sakatah Trail in Le Sueur County, and $400,000 for a Department of Natural Resources fish hatchery in Waterville.

The Lewis & Clark Regional Water System connection to Worthington was the first item listed in Gov. Mark Dayton’s $1.5 billion bonding proposal released Wednesday.

The language used by Dayton is nearly identical to the description of the project in last year’s bonding bill. The proposal asks for $11.5 million to finish construction of the pipeline deliver water to Worthington. . . .

Dayton’s recommendations include $1,332,000 in Higher Education Asset Preservation and Renewal (HEAPR) funding for Minnesota West Community and Technical College (MWCTC) in Worthington.

The funding would go toward work on the Library and Academic Resource Center’s roof.

HEAPR is used exclusively for upkeep of higher education buildings. The funding is part of an $80 million package aimed at Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU). . . .

Other projects in the area will resolve issues at the Luverne Veterans Home, Blue Mounds State Park and the Windom MnDOT office.

Money to build a new psychiatric hospital for youth in Willmar is included in Gov. Mark Dayton's proposed bonding bill.

If approved, the $7.5 million allocation would be used to build a new 16-bed facility in Willmar to replace the one currently in operation on the MinnWest Technology Campus.

In the past, Dayton had proposed closing the Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health Services program, which is the only one of its kind in the state, and transferring the clients and jobs elsewhere.

In a conference call Wednesday with reporters about his 2018 bonding bill proposal, the Democratic governor said keeping the mental health facility for youth open in Willmar was a "top priority" of Rep. Dave Baker, R-Willmar. . . .

Dayton listed several other Willmar projects in his proposal, including $1 million for facility improvements at Ridgewater College and $800,000 in military affairs asset preservation at the National Guard Armory.

Regional projects include $3.5 million to help fund the final segment of flood prevention levee in Montevideo, $3 million for power generation improvements in Litchfield, $300,000 in facility improvements at Minnesota West Community and Technical College in Canby and $1 million in facility improvements at Ridgewater College in Hutchinson.

Dayton's $1.5 billion proposal is less than half of the $3.7 billion in submitted requests, but it may be much larger than what Republicans are willing to consider given that this is typically not a bonding year.

The governor's proposal would borrow money for infrastructure projects across the state, including railroad safety improvements, repairs to college and university buildings and flood mitigation efforts.

On a conference call with reporters in outstate Minnesota, Dayton said it would be "tragic" to miss the opportunity to invest in projects that will create jobs and benefit Minnesota, especially given the state's $1.87 million budget surplus. . . .

Among the St. Cloud-area projects included in Dayton's proposal:

• $18.5 million for a new intake unit, loading dock and central warehouse at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-St. Cloud.

• $14.1 million to repair the perimeter wall at the St. Cloud prison.

• $1.32 million for asset preservation at the St. Cloud prison.

• $1.55 million for the Department of Natural Resources for repairs to St. Cloud dam.

• $4.7 million in Higher Education Asset Preservation and Renovation funds for St. Cloud State University, which can be used to extend the useful life of buildings through mechanical, plumbing, electrical, roof and other repairs.

• $3.1 million for a railroad/pipeline safety training center at Camp Ripley.

• $750,000 for the DNR for flood mitigation at the Melrose wastewater treatment plant levee.

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton has proposed the largest bonding bill in the state’s history. The $1.5 billion bill would fund projects all over the state.

Several projects around the Northland have made the governor’s list. Many of them were on last year’s bonding bill as well. Some are hoping that the 2017 version of the bill passes and that it doesn’t have a similar fate as the 2016 bill.

Kris Eilers of the St. Louis River Alliance is hoping that the bill will pass this session.

$25 million is slated to go to cleanup of the St. Louis River which is also a project that triggers a 65% federal match. If the bill doesn’t pass, there’s a chance that the match could be lost and that the state could bear the price.

“Things could change down the road and we could lose that money, so this project does need to get done,” said Eilers.

Over at UMD, they’re hoping the bill brings $28 million for a new chemistry and advanced materials science building. . . .

The bonding bill also would provide: $21 million for the conversion of the Duluth steam plant; $8 million for the Hermantown Regional Wellness Center; $7.4 million for the reconfiguration of the campus at Hibbing Community College; $6.6 million for runway construction at the Duluth International Airport; and $5.6 million for the Duluth Seaway Port Authority; as well as other projects.

...During a press conference call Wednesday, the list of Brainerd area projects in Dayton's new proposal he rattled off included $3.5 million to renovate the Guard's Brainerd Readiness Center, known colloquially as the Brainerd Armory.

Staff Sgt. Anthony Housey, a Minnesota National Guard spokesman, said the Brainerd Readiness Center is one of the older armories in the state, having been originally completed in 1989. Housey said the renovation will bring the facility's HVAC system up to code, make the building more energy-efficient, and reflect a gender-integrated Guard by including more facilities for women, such as locker rooms. The building came up on the rotation of National Guard facilities projects to be submitted to elected officials for possible bonding money . . . .

The proposal Dayton released Wednesday also included several area projects that made his 2016 list, including $3.5 million for a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources facility on Mille Lacs Lake to help combat the walleye shortage there, $100,000 for the DNR's fish hatchery in Brainerd, and $3.521 million for a Joint Emergency Response Training Center at the National Guard base at Camp Ripley, to help emergency responders from agencies across the state train to react to a potential oil train derailment. . . .

Moorhead could finally have an underpass for the train if the governors bonding bill goes through.

The bill has $1.5 billion worth of projects including more than $42-million for an underpass. . . .

Moorhead's mayor says she's been pushing for the underpass for years and knows the trains are a massive frustration.

"Really it is a safety factor and that's what we sell it on, but the truth is it's annoying, so people will all feel it and all appreciate it when we get that done," said Del Rae Williams, Moorhead Mayor.

Tucked inside the governor's proposal is $14.5 million to renovate Rochester Community and Technical College, $2.3 million to renovate Rochester International Airport and $1.5 million to expand The Reading Center in Rochester. During a call with reporters, Dayton challenged lawmakers to pass a robust public works bill in the first month of the legislative session. He said it is especially urgent that lawmakers take action after failing to reach agreement on a bonding bill last year. . . .

Dayton's office estimates the governor's proposal would create nearly 23,000 jobs. Including in the package is $140 million for local roads and bridges, $167 million for water infrastructure improvements and $315 million for college and university campuses. Other southeast Minnesota projects funded include $4.5 million to upgrade Red Wing's waterfront and the Sheldon Theatre, $17 million for Winona State University's Education Village and $15 million for a rail grade separation on Sturgeon Lake Road in the Prairie Island Indian Community. The governor indicated he would also like to see a large bonding bill next year as well. . .

. . . In Winona, the recommendations include the full funding, $25.3 million, for the main phase of WSU’s Education Village. Work on the project, intended to transform the way teachers are trained in the state, has begun, though the renovations will be limited to the funding provided for the first phase.

The plans have otherwise been put on hold, with Winona State awaiting legislative agreement on the funding. . . .

. . .The budget and bonding recommendations also include $2.28 million for WSU in a package of funding for Minnesota State’s higher education asset preservation and renovation projects. It would also provide $280,000 for the Winona Port in its traditional package of port improvement funding across the state. . . .

We could go on, but it's difficult to pay attention to all these projects in Greater Minnesota while our local Republican state representatives here in West Central howl at the frozen night sky about how little Dayton and Smith care for the wild prairie and how much goes to the Evil Metro areas.

Photo: A rail crossing in Moorhead that's annoying and unsafe. Will the Republican-controlled legislature approve Dayton's jobs bill and help make things better in the whole of the state?

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Dec 31, 2016

The Swift County Monitor reports that Minnesota House Public Safety Chair Tony Cornish would like to lease the closed private prison in Appleton--and that Corrections Corporation of America has rebranded itself as CoreCivic.

Swift County is already gearing up to make another effort to get the State of Minnesota to lease or buy the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton.

At the county board’s meeting Dec. 19, Commissioner Gary Hendrickx, District 1-Appleton, reported that he and Commission Chair Pete Peterson, District 3-south Benson, had attended a meeting of representatives of lobbying firm Goff Public and CoreCivic, the owner of the prison.

CoreCivic is the new name of Corrections Corporation of America, the country’s largest owner of private prison facilities. It changed its name this past fall. . . .

Also at the meeting was District 17A state Rep. Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg, and state Senator-elect Andrew Lang, R-Olivia. The meeting was called to formulate a strategy for lobbying the Legislature during the 2017 session. . . .

It has been estimated that reopening the prison would create 350 jobs for western Minnesota, have a $13 to $15 million payroll, and provide a significant boost to the local economies of the many small towns from which the employees come.

Hendrickx told fellow commissioners that it seems that the appetite to purchase isn’t as strong as it was last year; there is more of an appetite to lease, he said.

Republican Tony Cornish, chair of the state House’s Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy and Finance Committee, seems to have more of an appetite for a lease, Hendrickx said. The lease doesn’t require the big upfront dollar amount a purchase would, he said.

Minnesota Democrat Gov. Mark Dayton, who has not looked at any use of the Appleton prison favorably, still has indicated he leans toward a purchase if it is done.

For the Appleton area, whether it is a lease or a purchase, it is the jobs that are important, Hendrickx said. But it is also important that the agreement that is reached whether a purchase or a lease shows a commitment to use the facility for the long term to ensure job stability, Hendrickx said. [emphasis added]

Unintentional humor? The story is filed under Death Notices. It's also clear from Commissioner Hendrickx that for Swift County, this thrust isn't about overcrowding or concern for the inmates, as was claimed during the session, but jobs.

[Miller] did manage to snag some campaign cash from Corrections Corporation of America's executives and their spouses, as well as from a couple of CCA corporate lobbyists. From his pre-general election report to the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board (available here):

All that money must be smooth as Tennessee whiskey for blunting the blow of rejection by Swift County's finest news source (We're not being snarly about the Monitor, whose editor is highly respected among country newspaper people).

Screenshot: We're not sure if the Swift County Monitor wanted to file this story under the obits.

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Dec 28, 2016

Yesterday, via a press release from the Minnesota Department of Economic Department, the Governor's Task Force on Broadband released its annual report, recommending biennial spending of $100 million in ongoing funding for the Border-to-Border Broadband Grand Development Program and $10 million in operating funds for the Office of Broadband Development.

The office is located within MN DEED.

In a statement issued today, Lt. Gov. Tina Smith said:

“Broadband remains a critical tool for building a fair economy that works for all Minnesotans. This report reaffirms that significant, sustained investment is necessary to provide all Minnesotans the affordable, reliable, high-speed internet they require to run businesses, get educations, and access modern medical care. If we don’t make this investment, Minnesota will be divided between those who can access the promise of the 21st century and those who cannot. That is not right."

“Our Administration will propose another robust investment in broadband infrastructure next session. I hope legislators, many of whom ran on a promise to strengthen rural communities, will fulfill this commitment.”

Bluestem's editor's own experience concurs. We moved to a new home in rural Big Stone County where fiber broadband was installed by a local telephone co-op on September 1. Our housemate is a photographer who documents the prairie pothole region's beauty--and arrival of fast upload and download times has been a boon to his ability to market his photos and studio open houses.

It's just an imperative for farmers and rural auto shops, as these businesses require the ability to receive and send data swiftly.

The recommendations outlined in the report are aimed at ensuring every Minnesotan has access to broadband and the ability to use it. The recommendations include $100 million in ongoing funding for the Border-to-Border Broadband Grand Development Program and $10 million in operating funds for the Office of Broadband Development, located within the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).

“Last year, we made strides with the largest investment in the Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant Program to date, but we know there’s more work to be done to achieve our goal of broadband access for every Minnesotan,” said Margaret Anderson Kelliher, chair of the Governor’s Task Force on Broadband. “Broadband plays a vital role in connecting people to health care, education and the global economy. The recommendations in our report will continue to move us closer to the border-to-border broadband access we need to succeed now and into the future.”

“Our goal is to make high-speed broadband accessible to every home, school, business and community in the state, particularly in Greater Minnesota,” said DEED Commissioner Shawntera Hardy. “This is an important tool that will not only improve the quality of life of all Minnesotans, but will be an investment in the future economic development of our state.”

The Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant Program, created by the Legislature in 2014 and initially funded at $20 million, provides funding to build the state’s broadband infrastructure and promote broadband access in unserved and underserved areas of the state. The grants provide up to a dollar-for-dollar match on funds, not to exceed $5 million for any one project, and are distributed to qualified entities. . . .

The Task Force recommendation to allocate $10 million in operating funds to the Office of Broadband Development recognizes that specific and targeted policies and programs can effectively aid the adoption of broadband and assist in deployment.

Additional policy recommendations include:

1. Take action to promote and communicate “dig once” policies

2. Establish a legislative cybersecurity commission for the purpose of information sharing, monitoring workforce issues, and supporting and strengthening infrastructure

3. Continue to monitor advancing telecommunications technologies

4. Amend building codes to require that multi-tenant housing units funded with public dollars deploy cabling that supports easier management of broadband connectivity

5. Build computer donation partnerships between state agencies and community-based organizations that get computers into the hands of those who need them

6. Modify the state Telecommunications Assistance Program to better align with the national Lifeline program to subsidize the cost of broadband service for low income households

7. Support continued funding of Regional Library Telecommunications Aid (RLTA)

Photo: The view from our kitchen window. All this and fiber broadband too. Photo by Sally Jo Sorensen.

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Unfortunately, we were told that the Pollinator Report was still in draft and that no recording was made, but we would be sent minutes of the meeting when they were available.

While Minnesota's open meeting law does not require meetings (other than official "legislative body" committee meetings) to be recorded and made available to the media and the public, Bluestem would think that the Governor's Office, the agencies, and the Environmental Quality Board would tape the meetings in the future.

Why tape the meetings of this executive committee? When the governor issued Executive Order 16-07, requiring the state to take specific actions to reverse the decline of bees and other pollinator populations back in late August, there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth on the part of Republicans, a few Democrats willing to front for the ag chemical industry like so-to-be-former state senator Vicki Jensen, DFL- Owatonna, some farm groups and the ag chemical industry.

The complaint? That they had not been consulted and that the process wasn't transparent. We posted in September about a special House hearing about the matter here--and included the list of those who attended the pollinator summit held last winter. A wide range of stakeholders were invited, including state legislators, farm groups and lobbyists. We sat at a table in conversation with a Monsanto guy, for instance, and recognized a number of other ag lobbyists at the summit from our years of watching Minnesota House ag and environmental hearings.

As far as we could discern, farm groups and pro-pollinator group were kept on a even footing throughout the process that led up to the executive order (and we're puzzled by those who don't think beekeepers aren't part of agriculture).

The governor's office announced the roster of those on the new committee on December 2. Members include beekeepers, farm group representatives like MN Farm Bureau president Kevin Papp, folks from pesticide skeptic and pro-pollinator organizations, bee scientists and other informed people. Taping their future meetings would not only make the process more transparent, but would also lessen the ability of any faction from playing the butt-hurt game.

The latter communication strategy could possibly emerge should the committee decide to follow a "consensus" model, rather that actually making decisions by voting on actions put before the committee. Under Minnesota's open meeting law, such votes must be recorded in minutes for nearly every meeting of an executive-level or agency committee:

Subd. 4.Votes to be kept in journal.

(a) The votes of the members of the state agency, board, commission, or department; or of the governing body, committee, subcommittee, board, department, or commission on an action taken in a meeting required by this section to be open to the public must be recorded in a journal kept for that purpose.

(b) The vote of each member must be recorded on each appropriation of money, except for payments of judgments, claims, and amounts fixed by statute.

Subd. 5.Public access to journal.

The journal must be open to the public during all normal business hours where records of the public body are kept.

A consensus model paired with no audio or video taped meetings is a recipe for mischief.

Let's nip the possibility of this nonsense at the bud. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture and the EQB should tape the meetings (audio is fine).

Looking over the statute also generated a question about the report that was under discussion at the first meeting. Were committee members provided with a copy of the draft? If so, the state open meeting law is suggestive about those documents being open to the public during a meeting:

Subd. 6.Public copy of members' materials.

(a) In any meeting which under subdivisions 1, 2, 4, and 5, and section 13D.02 must be open to the public, at least one copy of any printed materials relating to the agenda items of the meeting prepared or distributed by or at the direction of the governing body or its employees and:

(1) distributed at the meeting to all members of the governing body;

(2) distributed before the meeting to all members; or

(3) available in the meeting room to all members;

shall be available in the meeting room for inspection by the public while the governing body considers their subject matter.

Would such a document be available for review by an individual covering the issue (but who couldn't travel from greater Minnesota to attend the meeting)? Or do documents available to the public at a meeting magically become off limits for data practice requests following the meeting? It's not our area of expertise.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all our readers.

Clip art: What conversations will go on behind the curtain if meetings aren't taped?

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But the commissioners instructed Soil and Water Conservation District Director Holly Hatlewick and Drainage Authority Director Larry Zupke not to go ahead with plans to send letters notifying landowners impacted by the requirement to add a one-rod buffer along public drainage systems.

Landowners must be in compliance with that requirement by Nov. 1, 2018.

Commissioner Randy Kramer said the county should wait until after the upcoming legislative session to send the 2018 letters, calling it “premature’’ to send the notifications at this point. [emphasis added]

If the legislature revisits statutes related to buffers in 2017, that'll be the third time in as many years that the House Republicans in control of the body try to get it right--all the while blaming the legislation on metro Democrats.

Nice work if you can get it.

If it weren't for the chance to make this political hay while the sun shines on their whining about the onerous burden of the language folks like Jeff Backer and others fought (and voted for) in 2015 and 2016, we'd have to wonder why the stalwart yeoman liberty defending Republicans would swim up this bull ditch again.

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Since then, the Governor's office has notified the press that he is sick and will not attend today's Electoral College Assembly nor the pre-session briefing. The legislative caucus leaders will be there to answer the media's questions.

Via The Uptake, here's the live stream of the event, which begins at 1 p.m. today. To watch, click on the embedded video below:

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Dec 17, 2016

Update: Governor Dayton's communication office has sent the following email:

UPDATE: Due to being sick, the Governor has cancelled his planned events for today. . . .

Note that Forum News Service is still asking Legislative Leaders to attend the pre-session briefing today at 1:00pm, in the Minnesota Senate Building. Please contact Don Davis (ddavis@forumcomm.com) with any questions about the briefing. [end update]

Forum News Services veteran political reporter Don Davis typically is an understated, just-the-facts sort of writer, so when he calls a meeting a "break-up, or breakdown," we pay attention.

The last time Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton and House Speaker Kurt Daudt met, it lasted about a quarter of an hour before the governor walked out, saying Daudt did not want to help people afford health insurance.

“That was about as productive as everyone thought it would be,” Daudt, R-Crown, said Friday, Dec. 16, as he left the brief, tense meeting. . . .

The meeting breakup, or breakdown, apparently ended chances of a special session to provide financial aid that all sides say is needed. As that meeting ended, questions arose about how state leaders who exchanged more verbal blasts than policy ideas can get along in the 2017 session with even more at stake.

The next time the Dayton and Daudt will be at the same table will along with three other legislative leaders Monday when Forum News Service hosts the annual pre-session briefing to get an idea about what to expect during the 2017 regular legislative session. Minnesotans will be able to watch on the web.

The governor promised to be at the briefing for an hour, and legislative leaders are expected to remain 90 minutes. What happens when they are together is anyone’s guess. . . .

Bluestem suspects that incoming Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, R-Nisswa, and House Minority Leader Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, will be the técnicos in this rumble, while Daudt gets to strut as therudo. Dayton, as always, will defy conventions.

Photo: Could the Dayton and Daudt smackdowns come to rival the gold days of El Santo and Blue Demon? Tune in Monday! Monday! Monday!

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 33166 770th Ave, Ortonville, MN 56278) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post.

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 33166 770th Ave, Ortonville, MN 56278) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post.

The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled a Republican state House incumbent ineligible for November's election amid questions about his residency.

Justices ordered a February special election for that seat after accepting the findings of a court-appointed referee that Rep. Bob Barrett doesn't live in the Chisago County district northeast of St. Paul that he now represents.

Barrett owns a home in a nearby district but rented a property in the one he ran in.

The decision means the Minnesota House will start its next session with 133 members, down one, which could be pivotal if the split between parties is close. Republicans are currently in the majority.

Barrett, a three-term lawmaker, owns a home in Shafer, where his wife resides, but insists he spends sufficient time and has taken enough steps to qualify as a resident of Taylors Falls.

The distinction matters because Minnesota legislators must live in the district they represent at least six months before the election.

Rather than remove Barrett from the ballot, the court said no winner should be declared in November. Justices turned to a new state law that triggers a special election the following February.

If Barrett was ineligible to be on the ballot, should he be allowed to represent people in the district in the special session? He doesn't live in Minnesota House District 32B.

Image: Bob Barrett doesn't live in his district and the seat will be vacant until a February special election. Why should he vote in a special session?

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Nov 21, 2016

Interested in helping to "prescribe salaries for legislators"? Minnesota voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the state constitution that would place the determination of legislative salaries in the hands of an independent board (see restrictions below). Now the Governor is taking applications for the council.

And yes, the Council will "take into account any other legislative compensation provided to the legislators by the state" so those per diems, benefits, housing allowances and whatnot else will be part of the discussion.

From the Governor's Office:

Governor Mark Dayton is encouraging all eligible Minnesotans to apply for one of the eight current vacancies on the Legislative Salary Council. The council was created upon Minnesota’s voters passing the Constitutional Amendment, and this citizens-only council will prescribe salaries for legislators.

Governor Dayton will appoint eight Minnesotans to this council, which will include one appointee from each Congressional District. Four members must be Democrats and four members must be Republicans. Additionally, none of the members of the council may be:

A current or former legislator, or the spouse of a current legislator

A current or former lobbyist registered under Minnesota law

A current employee of the legislature

A current or former judge

A current or former governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, or state auditor

To apply, please submit an application, cover letter, and resume through the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website. Due to the statutory requirement that the Governor must appoint four Democrats and four Republicans, we are asking that applicants disclose their party affiliation on the application form. The deadline to apply and receive full consideration is Monday, December 5, 2016. For inquiries concerning the application process, please contact Andrew Olson, Director of Appointments, at andrew.c.olson@state.mn.us.

About the Legislative Salary Council

The council consists of eight members appointed by the Governor and eight by the Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. By March 31 of each odd-numbered year, the council will prescribe salaries for legislators to take effect July 1 of that year. In setting salaries, the council will take into account any other legislative compensation provided to the legislators by the state and the most recent budget forecast.

Sen. Carrie Ruud, R-Breezy Point, talked of her work to get an amendment to the state constitution that would take away legislators' power of setting their own pay and replace it with an appointed citizen commission. She said she discovered the idea through her involvement with the National Foundation for Women Legislators, after a delegate from the state of Washington told her about it. It's a good solution to break the legislative gridlock around the issue, she said. The fear of political blowback effectively shuts down any hope of a frank discussion on legislator pay. . . .

Lots of Minnesota voters decided that they agree. In a related aside, Ruud has just been elected 2017 president of the NFWL, according to a tweet by Senator Michelle Benson, R-Ham Lake:

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